


Paint

by Rookmoon



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Bay Movies), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Art is Life, Artist!Reader, Cute, Familial Relationships, Family Feels, Feel-good, Feels, Fluff, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Platonic Relationships, Sleepovers, body art, paint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 15:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14876603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rookmoon/pseuds/Rookmoon
Summary: You and the Turtles have a standing tradition of sorts. Every couple of weeks, you bring spray paint into the lair, and paint the guys' shells for them.This particular batch gives you and the guys some feels.





	Paint

     There’s nothing quite like bringing a duffel bag full of paint into the lair. The cans knock against each other quietly as you make the trip through the sewers to your second home. You bought some new colors, and honestly, you couldn’t wait to start painting on the guys.

     It’s something you started doing for them several months ago to thank them for helping you out, and keeping an eye on you. You didn’t tell them that, though. You also didn’t tell them that the painting was to give them something else to look forward to.

     It’s a pretty sweet deal. The guys get something painted on their backs special for them, and you get to paint. Both sides gain something, and everyone is happy with this arrangement.

     The first one to spot you is Mikey. He sees the duffel and jumps at the chance to sweep you into a bone crushing hug. You drop the bag right before you’re brought into his tight embrace. Mikey’s saying something, but you have no idea what it is. You’re too busy trying to keep breathing. The turtle swings you around a bit and sets you down, leaving you feeling a bit like a rag doll. Scooping up the bag, you go to greet the others. Mikey runs off to prepare for a night of fun. He’s always ready for fun, and you have a tarp stored somewhere down here for times just like this.

     When you get into the living room, the siblings are walking into the cavernous room. You say hello, and get some hugs. Raph and Leo playfully ruffle your hair as they walk past you. The guys gather on the tarp in the middle of the room with expectant looks on their faces. Raph pretends that he’s not excited for some new paint on his shell, but his not so sneaky glances at the duffel give him away. He’s just as eager as everyone else involved in this. The others don’t bother hiding it. They all know that you enjoy this just as much as they do.

     “So, who wants to go first?” You set the bag down and start to shake the cans. There are several shades of each of the guys’ colors, and a few from the other side of the color wheel in case they want something that catches attention when seen, as well as some white, black, and shading paint. The usual for when you come down here.

     The turtles speak at the same time, only to fall silent, watching each other. Waiting to see who will try to claim that first spot and more importantly, who will get it.

     “Well, Mikey went first last time, so someone else should get to go.” Raph declares, puffing his chest out like it should be him.

     “You’re right.” Leo smiles and gives Raph a look, “I should go first this time.”

     “Yeah, and you broke the toaster again this morning.” Donnie rolls his eyes.

     “Alrighty then, who’s going first?” Mikey blinks at his brothers.

     Rattling paint cans fill the beat of silence as you shake them up, slowly adding to the pile of prepared paint.

     “Why don’t you guys just roll a die?”

     “We don’t have one.” Leo points out, “We never needed one.”

     “I’m not buying it, but fine. I’ll think of a number between one and fifty. Whoever guesses closes wins.”

     “Do you have one yet?”

     You take a second to think, “Yeah. Go ahead.”

     “Forty seven.”

     “Twenty two.”

     “Thirty one.”

     “Twelve.”

     “It was thirty three.” You set the shaken cans on the floor and grab the next couple. “Raph’s first.”

     The other three stand and you shake the rest of the red paint while Raph picks the colors that will adorn his shell.

     “You want anything in particular?”

     “Nah, just something cool.”

     “I can do that.”

     The lair is silent, except for the paint coming out of the cans. It feels strange, so you put on the usual playlist for when you paint. The brothers watch as you paint over the work from a couple of weeks ago. You catch them nodding along to the beat. Instead of pointing it out, you paint over the usual dark red with a lighter color, spraying over Raph’s shell in a way that seems more like a few shapes instead of the background he had had before. You wait for the paint to dry as you think about what you want to do next. Knowing that Raph prefers something a little more substantial helps when thinking up things to paint for him, but he and his brothers leave it up to you, for the most part. An idea clicks, and you see if the paint is dry. It’s almost there, but you have to shake up some green.

     The edge of his shell remains clean and untouched by your paint, as with all of the guys. Starting in the middle, you paint a few streaks of green before going for the cherry red. Layering that over other parts of the shell, you start putting together something new for Raphael. Bold streaks of color that match his personality race over his back, all in different shades of red, with a bit of green to catch the eye. A bit of shading done with crimson, and you have finished.

     The only thing that’s clear is the set of deep green eyes, surrounded by shapes in different shades of red, layered over one another until the edges blur together into something strangely calm. Taking a step back, you admire your work. An abstract wolf stares you down, and you congratulate yourself on a job well done.

     Raph gets up and joins the others to watch you work, and Mikey takes his place. You chuckle when you see the bright colors that he had set aside for you to use for his personal mural. You paint yellow bubbles, and start building off over parts of them, leaving none of the old paint showing. Taking the bright pink paint, you start writing words on his back. Life. Worth. Strength. Bright. Blue paint covers bits of the pink. More positive words fill up his shell as you start filling up the space. You want it to look cluttered. That’s the kind of guy that Mikey is, and you want this work to reflect that. You paint until the words are almost unrecognizable. Only the top couple of layers can be clearly read for what they are.

     You take up the last color with a happy grin. This particular can is normally used for shading, but you’ve used it for paining before, and all those turned out so well. The shadow of a peace symbol takes up the middle of the shell, bringing the chaos into something more suited to Mikey. Because, in the end, all he really wants is for the people he cares about to get along.

     Mikey trades places with Leo, and you gather another set of colors. Mostly blues and some light greens. You have a specific idea in mind for this one. You’re not sure if any of the guys will catch on, but have a sneaking suspicion that Leo would enjoy an arrangement of flowers. Lots of different kinds of flowers. All of them, blue.

     You look up a picture of borage, and lay down the base for a few of them before moving on to the next flower. Snapdragons arch up the left side to take up space there, and an aster takes up part of the bottom right side. Morning glories swirl through the gaps on the bottom left, and you put a magnolia closer to the middle. You add streaks of green to accent the flowers, and add forget me nots in the spaces between. A couple of gladiolus flowers spike up from the top right side.

     Taking other colors, you finish the flowers, and add something shining in the background. It’s not meant to be seen clearly, but you know that Leo will notice it.

     You finish the work with some shading, making the flowers look strong and vibrant instead of delicate, like the turtle they are painted for. Leo gets up, and Donnie takes a seat in front of you.

     He also leaves the color choice to you, and you gather the last set of paint for tonight. You choose something that fits Donnie’s mind. Complex, flexible, and amazing. Starting with a deep purple background, you work a swirling lattice of lavender paint before adding small white stars in some places, linking them into constellations that sprawl across his shell. You go over the lattice again to make it darker the closer it gets to the center until it fades into the night sky.

     The music ends, but no one moves to start another song. You’re almost done anyway, and a comfortable silence settles over the little group.

     You take a creamy off white color, and paint a small circle in the middle of the lattice, an inch and a half after the net fades, and add a little shading with your fingers until it looks like a moon. After you fix the few drips from the details, you let him know that he’s done.

     The brothers go into the hall together. A few pieces of polished metal mirrors are tacked to either side of the wall, giving the guys an easy way to look at your work. They stand for a second. Two, three.

     That’s the end of the silence.

     “Dude, this is  _ awesome _ !”

     “A wolf, huh? Impressive.” Raph smirks at you through the reflection.

     “How many flowers did you paint? I’m surprised this didn’t take longer.”

     “Holy shell.” Donnie traces the edge of the piece like he doesn’t know what to say. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

     The grin that spreads itself on your face can’t be helped. Not that you want to. It’s just so nice to know that the guys enjoy your work. When they tear their eyes away from their new body art, you’re being squished into a warm hug with all four of the turtles. They chatter about what they like about your work, and what they would like to see you try next time.

     By the time they let you go, you don’t want to leave.

     A glance at the clock tells you that it’s much too late for you to go home anyways. It’s so easy to forget time when painting, but you’re glad for it. This means you get to spend the night with the guys and have even more fun with them.

     You keep catching glimpses of the paint shining on the turtles’ shells, and you can’t help the pride that wells up in your chest. These guys mean so much to you. You hope that you can express that through the art that they let you paint. It feels obvious, but you can’t quite voice these feelings. In the back of your mind, you know that if it comes down to it, you would fight for them with the same ferocity they would use to fight for you.

     Hopefully you don’t have to, but you’d do what you can to help them. No matter what. After all, it’s not hard to tell that they see you as family and you’ve known them long enough to feel the same way.

     You feel this, and accept it, but now isn’t the time for things like that. It’s time for fun, and watching Mikey stuff a whole pizza in his mouth at once, and seeing Donnie low key being a sarcastic smart ass, and Raph joking around, and Leo trying to pull people into play fights. 

     The rest of the night is spent with teasing remarks, and the sounds of people enjoying each other’s company. By the time everyone’s asleep, not one of the guys return to their rooms. Instead, they end up sleeping in a pile with you. As you close your eyes, you catch yourself thinking that you wouldn’t want to live any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> I got hit by the feels, and this is the product of that. Man, I really missed writing for these guys. I hope you guys like it! I changed some things around, so hopefully this version is better than the one I didn't post. Heheh.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you're having a wonderful day!


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